Template:Appearances
You put the "wit" in "twit", sir.
Lawrence speaking to his boss Nefarious, UYA
Lawrence is a minor antagonist in Up Your Arsenal and A Crack in Time, with appearances in Deadlocked and All 4 One. He is Dr. Nefarious' robotic butler, a boss he often spites with subtle insults but nonetheless serves loyally; he has more than once saved the life of his employer.
History
Pre-Up Your Arsenal
Oh, goody. I get to press a button. And they said my intellect would be squandered under your employ.
Lawrence to Nefarious, ACiT
Lawrence was hired by then-organic life form Dr. Nefarious, an archetypal mad scientist, who worked within a lab within the swamps surrounding Blackwater City on Rilgar. It was here that the doctor created the Amoeboids creatures, savage beasts which Nefarious hoped would devour the local population; Lawrence remarked sardonically that this would definitively resolve any qualms about the doctor's madness. Qwark later attacked Rilgar and defeated many of the Amoeboids, and chased after Lawrence and Nefarious by stowing away on their ship.
The duo and their stowaway travelled for six days across the Solana Galaxy until reaching Nefarious' secret base on Magmos. Qwark attempted to infiltrate the base by disguising as a pizza delivery woman. His disguise failed, and Lawrence inquired if Qwark should be annihilated before entering his base, to which Nefarious simply allowed Qwark to infiltrate as he had a "surprise" in store. Instead, Qwark defeated Nefarious and threw him into the machinery, which eventually transformed Nefarious into a robot.
Following Nefarious' transformation, Lawrence and Nefarious went to Metropolis on planet Kerwan, for Nefarious to unleash an army of insectoid swarms. Qwark defeated Nefarious in Metropolis again while taking a break from his exercises, throwing a broken robotic Nefarious head into the garbage heap, though Lawrence incapacitated Qwark with a hammer. Nefarious. When repairing him, Lawrence accidentally screwed Nefarious' head on backwards, before repairing him and screwing it on properly. This instead left Nefarious with a malfunction that would cause him to freeze up and play an episode from the Lance and Janice soap opera. Lawrence and Nefarious both imprisoned Qwark on an ice world, but he was able to escape.
Up Your Arsenal
Lawrence doing sign language for those who are deaf, so that they can understand Nefarious' announcement to the Solana Galaxy
Robotic citizens of the Solana Galaxy! The hour of your liberation is at hand!
Following Nefarious' Tyhrranoid invasion of Veldin, and preceding an invasion of the presidential palace on Marcadia, Nefarious issued a message to the Solana Galaxy, in which he addressed robots claiming the "hour of your liberation" was at hand, which Lawrence translated in sign language.
Lawrence continued to perform Nefarious' chores upon his flagship, the Leviathan, while he was watching episodes of Secret Agent Clank. He later appeared on Supervillain Weekly, discussing the construction of a "top secret superweapon" on planet Daxx, which would be the Biobliterator, in which he gave a mostly vague answer that explained little to viewers before the host ended the show. Ratchet, Clank and Qwark later confronted Lawrence and Nefarious aboard the Leviathan, though Lawrence teleported himself and Nefarious out of the ship.
Lawrence playing his bass during his time on Nefarious's asteroid
After Ratchet and Clank had reached the final Biobliterator on planet Mylon and confronted Dr. Nefarious, he called Lawrence to his aid, who at first simply sent a pre-recorded holographic message and was not available, before Nefarious attacked Ratchet and Clank himself. When they defeated him, he called Lawrence to his aid again, who arrived dressed as a rockstar. The butler was reluctant to follow Nefarious's orders, preoccupied by his bass guitar, though Lawrence eventually teleported them both on board the Biobliterator as it transformed.
Ratchet, Clank and Qwark destroyed the Biobliterator, to which Nefarious asked Lawrence to teleport them both out without specifying a destination. As a result, Lawrence teleported them on board an asteroid in space, far out of range of any planet or space station to teleport to.
Between Up Your Arsenal and A Crack in Time
Thanks to you, and your dimwitted friend here, I found myself drifting through the cosmos! Have you ever spent time on an asteroid? It's surprisingly boring!
Dr. Nefarious to Ratchet and Clank, ACiT
Lawrence and Nefarious drifted on the asteroid throughout space. In Deadlocked, the asteroid drifted towards the Shadow Sector's DreadZone Station, though it was destroyed before they arrived.
Dr. Nefarious and Lawrence enter the mnemonic station where Clank was held
After some time, the asteroid drifted towards the Polaris Galaxy, in which they eventually arrived on Zanifar and sought refuge with a local fongoid tribe. Lawrence eventually accompanied Nefarious as he worked with the Zoni aboard the Great Clock to unlock the Orvus Chamber.
A Crack in Time
Clank was at first held hostage by the Zoni and Nefarious, though Nefarious' partnership ended with the Zoni when it became clear they would not give him access to the Orvus Chamber. Nefarious caused heavy damage to the Great Clock and allowed Clank to escape.
Lawrence spying
Clank eventually met with Sigmund, one of the Great Clock's staff, to learn more about Orvus and eventually access the chamber. While this happened, Lawrence spied on Clank's progress.
During Ratchet's final battle with Nefarious on the Nefarious Space Station, Lawrence was ordered to move the ship away from harm's way, though it soon became a battlefield between them. Lawrence fired the ship's cannons during this battle at Ratchet to assist in the fight. When Nefarious fell unconscious, Lawrence used the ship's escape pod to leave. Lawrence teleported Nefarious' unconscious body away, which the Polaris government was aware of but unable to find them.[1]
All 4 One
Lawrence continued to work with Nefarious, though another of his plans, the Creature Collector, backfired, after which Lawrence fled announcing his resignation.
Lawrence returned once Loki Master was defeated, piloting Cronk and Zephyr's ship down to the surface, and came under Nefarious' employ once again, claiming that the "market for evil sidekicks was rather thin", and the two flew off in a ship, discussing with Nefarious how best to avoid the Polaris Defense Force patrols.
Characteristics
Appearance
Lawrence is a fairly round, well dressed, humanoid robot. He has no hair and bright blue eyes, wearing a suit and bow tie. In A Crack in Time, his collar was changed to black.
Lawrence's head, despite being metal, appears flexible and squishy while he performed sign language.
Personality
Lawrence speaks with an upper class voice, and serves his master loyally. While he does not complain about his chores, which normally involve doing Nefarious' laundry, he spites his boss several times with subtle insults ("Even drooling imbeciles can achieve greatness in certain fields, sir. Mad Science, for example."; "If anyone can beat a moron at his own game, it's you sir."; "You put the 'wit' in 'twit', sir."), and often deliberately performs his tasks poorly.
Lawrence claimed that Nefarious' malfunction (in which he freezes up while a radio soap opera in his head plays) was his favorite part of the day, as he is able to whack him on the head for it to fix. The Qwark vid-comic suggested that Lawrence left this malfunction in deliberately.
Lawrence is familiar with sign language, and has helped broadcast Nefarious' messages with it. He is also a bass guitar enthusiast, which he plays left handed, and has written songs before, with his most notable being "Bass Odyssey".
Behind the scenes
Character model based on Lawrence's design.
Lawrence can be seen spying on Clank during Clank gameplay sections in A Crack in Time. To see him better, before fighting the Hypersonic Brainwave Scrambler, the player must move to the back ledge of the right side of the flooring before the bossfight area, use three heli-pack boosts and stay next to the wall and then see him standing on a ledge.
Multiple copies of Lawrence appear as small enemies in PlayStation Home in the Firing Range (future). He can be heard during PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
References
- ↑ Ratchet & Clank: Issue 1: Ears of War page 15.